On how PhDs become human evil

"Ritsuka, how many times have I told you, for those who are good at large-scale destruction, the more enemies they have, the stronger they become. But for someone like Bai Jie, who is practically a mobile demolition company, we might not be able to beat them."

"...I'll go prepare some clothes first. Also, Da Vinci-chan, could you make me a maid outfit?"

Why do you need a maid outfit?

"Wearing it to act cute and beg for forgiveness from seniors."

"..."

Section 423, paragraph 6. Even if it's a younger sister, as long as there's love, there's no problem.

"You idiot, get up!"

A lively shout broke Bai Jie's sleep.

"Hmm... just five more minutes of sleep..."

Bai Jie rolled over, pulled the blanket around himself, and went back to sleep. He was exhausted last night.

Seeing that Bai Jie refused to get up, Kiana, who was standing by Bai Jie's bed, rolled her eyes, overturned Bai Jie's cup, and crawled inside.

Noticing a foreign object crawling into the bed, Bai Jie barely opened his sleepy eyes: "Kiana, what are you doing?"

"Wake up, bro."

"Then why did you crawl into my bed?"

"Hehe~~~" Kiana laughed as she moved herself down a little. "Onii-chan, if you don't get up... I'm going to tease you again."

"My lovely little sister, you kept me up until two or three in the morning last night, can't you let me get some more sleep?"

"It's already noon! We were supposed to see Mei and the others today!"

Kiana pulled back the covers and drew back the curtains beside the bed, letting the midday sun stream into the room.

Bai Jie shielded his eyes from the glaring sunlight, gave a wry smile, and sat up in bed: "Okay, okay, I'll get up. Honestly, I feel like I've spoiled you a bit these past month."

A month has passed since Bai Jie returned to the Honkai world. After helping Kiana resolve the Honkai in Sky City and visiting Rita and Durandal in Vienna, Bai Jie and Kiana settled down in an abandoned house in Sky City.

On the very night they settled in, after obtaining Kel'Side's permission, Kiana dragged Bai Jie into the bathroom and took a bath with her, achieving what every sister-complex person desires.

Although Bai Jie was scolded by Chen and Cecilia afterward, since what had happened had already occurred, Bai Jie could only "reluctantly" use magic to create a wedding ring for Kiana.

Chen, Cecilia, Kal'tsit, Talulah, Frostnova, Skadi, Exusiai, Kiana.

The thought of having so many wives, and then of people who were interested in him, like Rita, gave Bai Jie a headache—why was he so popular? He had only seriously tried to flirt with Chen and Exusiai.

but.

Looking at the ring on Kiana's left ring finger, Bai Jie could only resign himself to his fate and decide that he and his family would just have to live a good life from now on.

Noticing Bai Jie's doting gaze, Kiana blushed slightly: "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing, I just feel that my sister-in-law is really the cutest in the world."

"Waaah—"

Faced with Bai Jie's sudden sweet words, Kiana's blush deepened even further. Looking at his adorable wife and sister, Bai Jie grabbed Kiana's hand, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her passionately, just as DIO had forcefully kissed Erina.

A few seconds later, Kiana finally managed to break free from Bai Jie's kiss, her face flushed and slightly out of breath: "Brother, why are you in such a hurry? I can't run away."

"Who told you to make such a cute face?" Bai Jie chuckled and patted Kiana's hair. "Let's go have lunch. We'll set off after lunch."

A week ago, Bai Jie learned about Raiden Mei and her group's situation through an information broker, but it was just a collection of scattered eyewitness reports. After obtaining the clues, Bai Jie released nearly a thousand shikigami and familiars to conduct a thorough search, and two days later, the shikigami finally reported back about Raiden Mei's situation.

Raiden Mei appeared in Sky City, accompanied by Theresa and Bronya.

Now that she knew her old friends were coming, Kiana had no reason not to go see them. Originally, Kiana was somewhat reluctant to see them, after all, she had hurt them with her own hands, but now... how could she not brag to her aunt and best friend about getting married?

——————————————————————————————

Just as Bai Jie and Kiana were preparing to go find Raiden Mei and the others, Raiden Mei was also searching for Kiana.

After a morning of investigation, the three met at a coffee shop.

"Mei, Bronya, how are things on your end? Have you heard anything from Kiana?"

"We have obtained quite a bit of information. In addition, these are the parts about Kiana that Bronya found in the surveillance video of Sky City."

In response to Theresa's question, Raiden Mei took out her tablet and opened several video files on the desktop.

The video in the file shows Kiana fighting Honkai Beasts on the outskirts of Sky City. Although Kiana was always very careful to avoid being seen, there were always times when she made mistakes. These videos were taken by surveillance cameras that Kiana hadn't noticed.

Seeing the Sky Ranger in the video, who was almost unrecognizable from her past self, Theresa couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

Kiana used to be such an optimistic and cheerful girl, but now she has become so mature and calm, with every move she makes revealing her clean, neat and decisive nature.

Theresa couldn't believe what kind of ordeal Kiana had gone through to turn the somewhat silly girl into this.

Kiana....."

Raiden Mei and Bronya also showed sad expressions. They were Kiana's closest sisters, but they couldn't go through hardships with Kiana. Although it was due to circumstances, it was indeed they who abandoned Kiana.

"But it's alright now. We're certain Kiana is in Sky City, and finding her is just a matter of time," Theresa encouraged the two. "By the way, Mei, how come these videos are from a month ago? What about this month's?"

“No.” Bronya shook her head. “Bronya couldn’t find any videos of Kiana from this month. There were no signs of the surveillance footage being altered. The only conclusion we can draw is that Kiana didn’t appear this month and instead completely hid herself.”

"Completely hidden away? Could it be that they've left Sky Dome City?"

"No, if she leaves, the surveillance cameras placed on the outskirts of Sky City will definitely capture it. From the angle, it's impossible for Kiana to completely avoid the surveillance cameras."

Bronya's words made Theresa fall into deep thought.

Judging from her performance in the video, Kiana clearly used the power of the Herrscher, which means she has begun to accept her other side. In this case, it is basically impossible for Kiana to get into trouble, unless she faces an existence of the S-rank Valkyrie level.

Since Kiana still hid herself, the only explanation is that she had a reason to hide, and a reason that she couldn't leave the house for a whole month.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mei, Bronya. Let's rest for lunch and continue the search this afternoon. We must find Kiana!"

"Ok!"

Raiden Mei and Bronya nodded emphatically, determined not to leave Kiana alone this time!

"Bro! Bro! I want ice cream!"

An unexpected sound drifted from the street into the coffee shop. Theresa and the other two instinctively looked out the window, where Kiana appeared in casual home clothes.

Kiana!?

The three of them immediately exclaimed in surprise, and that wasn't all, as another figure entered their field of vision.

He was a white-haired, red-eyed man wearing a white lab coat.

"Nephew (Captain)!?"

Section 424, paragraph 7. Report: My brother and I are married.

Inside the coffee shop's private room, looking at the three people sitting opposite him, Bai Jie chuckled and said, "I was just thinking of going to find you guys with Kiana, and we actually ran into each other on the way. What a coincidence."

"We were really surprised. Fafnir, when did you get back?"

Theresa was still staring at Bai Jie in shock. It was impossible for Theresa not to worry about her nephew. Although she knew he had gone to another world, she hadn't heard from Bai Jie since Chen and the others went to catch him cheating with the dimensional observation device.

Now that Bai Jie has suddenly returned, the astonishment that has brought Theresa is no less than when she first learned that Bai Jie had gone to another world.

"Well, I only came back a month ago. Since I didn't know where you guys were, I went to find Rita and Durandal first, and then came back here to be with Kiana."

Bai Jie smiled and patted Kiana on the shoulder.

"Kiana, don't just stand there, say something."

"Uh... I don't know what to say. I was planning to walk and think about things, but who would have thought I'd suddenly run into Aunt Flo and Mei?"

Kiana was caught off guard by the unexpected encounter with the person she was looking for, and her mind went blank, leaving her unsure of what to say.

"Then just say something casual, like 'It's been a long time' or something."

"Waaah..."

After frowning and hesitating for a while, Kiana looked at Mei, Bronya, and Theresa across from her. Facing her friends and aunt, Kiana took a deep breath: "Um... it's been a long time, Mei, Bronya."

Kiana!

The most sentimental Raiden Mei was the first to stand up and rush over to hug Kiana. Although they had only been separated for a few months, to Raiden Mei, it felt like she hadn't seen Kiana for years. The saying "every day feels like a year" perfectly describes Mei's state of mind.

"Welcome back, you silly Na."

While referring to Kiana's old nickname, Bronya wore a faint smile. Although she and Kiana used to be rivals who couldn't stand not bickering every day, when it came to feelings, she was no less affectionate than Mei, and was even willing to damage her brain for Kiana and Mei.

Faced with the hugs and greetings from her friends, Kiana, after an initial moment of stunned silence, involuntarily wrapped her arms around Mei and Bronya as well, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.

Seeing the three of them reunited, Bai Jie and Theresa retreated to a corner without prior arrangement, leaving the space to the three little ones.

"Ok?"

Suddenly, Theresa, who was leaning against the side watching Kiana, noticed something out of place.

Kiana was wearing a ring on her finger.

For other little girls, it would be perfectly normal, after all, a ring is a kind of accessory, and little girls who like to dress up often buy a small ring to wear.

But Kiana isn't the kind of girl who likes to dress up; in fact, you could say she doesn't care about dressing up at all. There's absolutely no way she would buy a ring and wear it.

So where did she get her ring?

If she didn't buy it herself, then it must have been given to her by someone else. But who would give her a ring? And judging from the position of the ring on her left ring finger, Theresa could understand the significance of this even without experiencing it herself.

My niece got married.

"Poke~~~Poke~~~"

Theresa poked Bai Jie's face hard.

Turning to Theresa, Bai Jie asked, "What's wrong? What do you want to ask now?"

"You married Kiana?"

"Crack—!"

Bai Jie crushed the coffee cup in his hand on the spot, startling Kiana.